Archive By Section - Nation

BOSTON - Doctors are reporting surprising early success with a novel treatment they hope will one day cure congestive heart failure in thousands of dying patients: They shrink the bloated heart with drugs while an artificial pump temporarily takes over the workload.

AMERICUS, Ga. - The grand historic mansions of this Southern town have become infested with millions of bats - so many that the sky turns black with each sunset. So many that not even the neighborhood Batman can help.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A blood-drenched October has passed into a violent early November as a motorcycle rigged with explosives ripped through a crowded Shiite market in Sadr City on Thursday and suspected Sunni insurgent gunmen killed a Shiite dean of Baghdad University.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli troops seized a northern Gaza town Wednesday in one of the largest strikes against Palestinian rocket squads in months, imposing a curfew, deploying snipers on rooftops and patrolling streets in tanks. Eight Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed.

WASHINGTON - Thrust into the midst of the midterm election campaign, Sen. John Kerry apologized Wednesday to ''any service member, family member or American who was offended'' by remarks deemed by Republicans and Democrats alike to be insulting to U.S. forces in Iraq.

LONDON - In the first comprehensive global study of sexual behavior, British researchers found that people aren't losing their virginity at ever younger ages, married people have the most sex, and there is no firm link between promiscuity and sexually transmitted diseases.

WASHINGTON - Obese mice on a high-fat diet got the benefits of being thin - living healthier, longer lives - without the pain of dieting when they consumed huge doses of red wine extract, according to a landmark new study.

The rival sides in South Dakota's historic vote on abortion each are claiming their position protects women's health - an old argument on the abortion rights side but a new campaign tactic for anti-abortion advocates that has significantly changed the debate.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq canceled leave Friday for all military officers two days before an expected verdict - and possible death sentence - in the trial of Saddam Hussein. For the second time this week, a top Bush administration official huddled with the Iraqi prime minister.

WASHINGTON - President Bush, campaigner in chief for a party in peril, set out on a rescue mission for embattled candidates in the unlikeliest of places Thursday as Republicans struggled to minimize their losses in next week's elections.

With the Mark Foley scandal still troubling Republicans, one of the nation's top evangelical leaders is now accused of paying for gay sex. Heading into Tuesday's election, when voters in eight states will decide on gay marriage bans, liberals and some conservatives are saying the party that prides itself on family values has a hypocrisy problem.

NEWARK, N.J. - To an experienced pilot, Runway 29 at Newark Liberty International Airport is hard to miss. It is half a football field wide, and like all jet runways, is marked by white lights on each side and down its center line.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The American death toll for October climbed past 100, a grim milestone as a White House envoy turned up unexpectedly in Baghdad on Monday following a rough patch in U.S.-Iraqi ties. At least 81 people were killed across Iraq, including 33 in a bombing targeting workers.

LONDON - Raising the stakes in the global warming dispute with the United States and China, Britain issued a sweeping report Monday warning that the Earth faces a calamity on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression unless urgent action is taken.